Canadian surveillance plane buzzed by Chinese off North Korea, DND reveals

CDS Jonathan Vance said Chinese crews flew too close to Canadian aircraft - and used 'inappropriate language'

A Canadian military surveillance aircraft monitoring United Nations sanctions was harassed in international airspace off North Korea by the Chinese military — part of "a pattern of behaviour that's inappropriate," Canada's top military commander said Wednesday.

The incident involving a CP-140 Aurora, which has since returned home, took place in October as allied nations monitored the sea lanes for cargo ships and tankers intent on violating embargoes imposed on North Korea by the UN Security Council.

"We have been interfered with on our flights in the area and been challenged inappropriately in international airspace," Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance said in a year-end interview with CBC News.

The Chinese, he said, flew too close to the sophisticated maritime patrol planes, used improper radio procedure and "inappropriate language."

Vance referred questions about the specifics to National Defence officials, who were less than forthcoming.

They conceded having "contact with the Chinese Air Force operating" near North Korea and insisted that "at no time were our crews or aircraft put at risk."

Tensions with China spiking

Japan, Australia and New Zealand also have conducted enforcement flights and Vance said their aircrews have experienced similar harassment.

Some in the diplomatic community, speaking on background Wednesday, said they see the incidents as China attempting to remind the West that they're in a region that is very sensitive to them — one where they are the predominant power.

The badgering involving the Canadian patrol aircraft happened before the recent spike in tension over Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei — including the arrest in Vancouver of a top company executive, Meng Wanzhou, 46, and the detention of three Canadian citizens in China.

Canadian warship HMCS Calgary and the supply ship MV Asterix recently returned to Esquimalt, B.C. from sanction enforcement patrols in the North Korea region.

Vance said their experience was different and they "did not face overt interference, but it's made very clear to anybody that's in that region that you're in China."

The Canadian military has, along with its allies, also faced "a persistent cyber threat that we are relatively well-poised to counter," said Vance.

But the recent sanctions-related provocation represents a troubling "pattern of behaviour" that undermines freedom of navigation, both on the sea and in the air, he said.

Vance said it also has important implications for Canada — especially when it comes to Beijing's increasing interest in the Arctic.

In a major policy statement earlier this year, China declared itself a "near-Arctic state" and promised to build a "Polar Silk Road" along Canada's northern border.

"China attaches great importance to navigation security in the Arctic shipping routes," says the country's Arctic Strategy, which was published by Chinese state media in January.

Beijing's overall policy, officially known as the 'Belt and Road Initiative', involves plans to open up new trade corridors through the construction of new ports, roads, rail links and trade agreements around the globe.

China has spent tens of billions of dollars on oil and gas projects in Siberia and in waters off Russia. State-owned mining companies have also bought into rich mineral deposits in Greenland.

War in the Arctic still unlikely: Vance

Adam Lajeunesse, a fellow at the Canadian Institute for Global Affairs, argued in a new policy paper that all of the activity and posturing by China "is not a direct threat to Arctic-state interests and that mutually productive activity is possible."

He said the threat is being overblown and "the values espoused in the Chinese document — environmental preservation, co-operation, consultation, support for Indigenous communities and science-based policy-making — strike many of the same chords as Canadian policy under the Liberal Party."

Vance said he does not believe there is a threat of military confrontation in the Arctic, but he worries about China's tactics of intimidation and its willingness to ignore international rules — which Beijing has demonstrated with its construction of artificial islands in disputed areas of the South China Sea.

"China is a valued trading partner. China is a valued member of the international community," he said. "China has enormous influence and stakeholdership in that part of the world.

"We respect that. We all do, but there is another side of the coin. At the same time, we face challenges."

The threats are not "insurmountable" and can he handled through diplomacy and dialogue, Vance said.

China does not pose the same type of challenge as Russia, which has demonstrated its own willingness to ignore international rules.

The lessons, Vance said, should not be lost on leaders and policymakers. "For countries like Canada, any disturbance or the failure to abide by [international] norms can indicate problems.

"Ask Ukraine. Ask any nation that has had a belt and road initiative forced upon it."

Canadian air force aircraft harassed by Chinese during patrols off North Korea

OTTAWA—A Canadian air force surveillance aircraft flying near North Korea to police international sanctions was harassed on multiple occasions by Chinese aircraft in a provocative show of force, Canada’s top commander says.

The incidents occurred in international airspace over the East China Sea and near the Korean Peninsula. They are part of a pattern of “intimidation” by China and mark a change in tone by Beijing, Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of defence staff, told the Star.

The incidents involved a Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora aircraft that was deployed last October to help track maritime shipping to identify vessels that might be evading United Nations sanctions on North Korea, notably through ship-to-ship transfers of goods.

According to Canada’s military, the interactions were, at times, “inappropriate and consisted of Chinese military aircraft flying too close, using improper radio procedures and inappropriate language.”

Vance said it was a puzzling show of force against a Canadian aircraft that was helping to enforce internationally adopted sanctions against the North Korean regime.

“It was unprofessional and appeared to try to assert authority where really it wasn’t their place do so,” Vance told the Star Thursday in a year-end interview.

“They know why we’re there; we’re there to look at the enforcement of economic sanctions on North Korea and (we’re) looking for the illegal transfer of oil, with our aircraft,” Vance said.

“They may be interested in us not looking too closely,” he said.

In 12 missions, the CP-140 had a total of 18 interactions with Chinese Air Force aircraft while operating in international air space, the Department of National Defence said in a later statement to the Star.

Those missions, between Oct. 3 and Oct. 30, lasted upwards of 10 hours each. During seven of them, the Canadian air crew reported “multiple interactions” with the Chinese Air Force. On one other mission, the air force had a single interaction with the Chinese.

“We were never in danger, but it’s an indicator …. It’s just irregular and it’s emblematic of a slight change in tone, but nonetheless, it’s a change,” Vance said.

“This is flexing your muscles. You don’t do that between friends. You don’t do that between good trading partners,” he said.

The aerial incidents happened against a backdrop of broader concerns about China’s military ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region.

Through a number of actions, China has “tipped into intimidation,” Vance said.

He cited a number of actions by Beijing: its build-up of islands in the South China Sea, where the Chinese have installed military facilities, and its use of both economic levers and cyber attacks. On Thursday, Canada’s Communications Security Establishment said that China was likely behind the hacking of corporate computer systems dating back to 2016.

Canada’s military is looking to be “consistently” present in the Pacific region, through sailings by navy vessels, deployment of aircraft and military liaison officers based in Japan and South Korea, Vance said.

The naval deployments — two Royal Canadian Navy frigates sailed on visits to the region this year — are part of a deliberate strategy to affirm the right to operate in international waters as defined by international conventions, Vance said.

“It’s ensuring that we can still exercise the rights of navigation that we will abide by: the UN convention on the law of the sea,” he said.

“We would want China to abide by the international rules-based order, not be provocative and not resort to the use or threat of use of military force,” he said.

More importantly, IMO, I see this mission as an important one and think the GOC and CAF should consider deploying a standing Det to it. I know we have a small fleet, but for deployed ops, I think we'd be better suited to commit to something like this rather than trying to 'spread the wealth'. The OA is really big and the mission is fairly challenging.

More importantly, IMO, I see this mission as an important one and think the GOC and CAF should consider deploying a standing Det to it. I know we have a small fleet, but for deployed ops, I think we'd be better suited to commit to something like this rather than trying to 'spread the wealth'. The OA is really big and the mission is fairly challenging.

I agree with you. However, I feel the average Canadian doesn’t feel the same. When the story broke on CBC it was probably the first time anyone heard about the Op. I find this disappointing, given that this was the second time we were over there with the Aurora.

I agree with you. However, I feel the average Canadian doesn’t feel the same. When the story broke on CBC it was probably the first time anyone heard about the Op. I find this disappointing, given that this was the second time we were over there with the Aurora.

Because unlike the CF-18 community, the Aurora community is filled with quiet professionals?

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Because unlike the CF-18 community, the Aurora community is filled with quiet professionals?

I don't think it is a matter of community professionalism; just looking at the CAF Operations FB page, it is filled with pictures, videos on the Tac Hel folks in Mali, as an example. I don't think they chose to be covered, it is the PR push for 'all things blue beret' coupled with any/all opportunities to 'show we are diverse' and other PC garbage like that.

The reasons the mission (in the fall) wasn't public knowledge is all politically driven; it isn't like 'others in the world' were all dark to the fact that assets were going into that op area to do that specific mission. RCN assets were in place and talking about it on their FB page (HMCS Calgary for one).